View source for 1990 Plainfield tornado

{{Short description|Deadly tornado in Illinois}}
{{Use American English|date=May 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox weather event
| image = Fujita Plainfield path.png
| alt = 
| caption = A map of the Plainfield supercell made by Ted Fujita
| formed = August 28, 1990 3:15 p.m. CDT
| duration = 30 minutes
| dissipated = August 28, 1990 3:45 p.m. CDT
}}{{Infobox weather event/Tornado
| basin = atl
| winds = >260 mph (419 km/h)
| fujita-scale = F5
}}{{Infobox weather event/Effects
| deaths = 29
| injuries = 353
| damages = $165 million<ref name="NWS"/> $380 million (2024 USD)
| affected = [[Oswego, Illinois|Oswego]], [[Plainfield, Illinois|Plainfield]], [[Crest Hill, Illinois|Crest Hill]], and [[Joliet, Illinois|Joliet]]
}}{{Infobox weather event/Footer
| season = [[Tornadoes of 1990|tornado outbreaks of 1990]]
}}
The '''1990 Plainfield tornado''' was a devastating [[tornado]] that struck [[Plainfield, Illinois]] in the [[Chicago metropolitan area]] during the afternoon of Tuesday, August 28, 1990. The violent tornado killed 29 people and injured 353.<ref name="NWS">{{cite web|title=Answers archive: Tornado history, climatology|work=[[USA Today]]|date=2005-12-26|url=https://www.usatoday.com/weather/resources/askjack/watorhty.htm|access-date=2008-06-02}}</ref> It is the only [[Fujita scale|F5/EF5]] rated tornado officially recorded in August in the United States (the [[1883 Rochester tornado|1883 Rochester, Minnesota tornado]] is unofficially considered an F5), and the only F5 tornado to strike the [[Chicago area]].<ref name="NWS"/><ref>{{cite web|title=30 Years Later: The August 28, 1990 F-5 Plainfield Tornado|publisher =[[National Weather Service Chicago, Illinois]]|url=https://www.weather.gov/lot/Plainfield_Tornado_Anniversary|access-date =28 August 2020}}</ref> There are no known videos or photographs of the tornado itself; however, in 2011, a video surfaced online showing the [[supercell]] that spawned the tornado.<ref>{{cite AV media |people=Orbik, Jay (Videographer) |title=August 28, 1990 supercell in DeKalb, IL |medium=Video |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WP9EcNAPGJs  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/WP9EcNAPGJs| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|access-date=28 August 2020 |publisher=YouTube|series=Gilbert Sebenste's Trains and Storms }}{{cbignore}}</ref> The Plainfield tornado was part of a small outbreak that produced several tornadoes in the [[Northern United States]], specifically Kansas, and the Canadian province of [[Ontario]].

The tornado was relatively abnormal, moving southeast instead of the conventional northeast motion of violent tornadoes.{{how|date=September 2025}} The event, as well as its poor warning time, drove advancements in radar technology and forecasting systems to adequately warn residents.

== Atmospheric conditions ==
{{No footnotes|section|date=August 2020}}
[[File:28Aug1990 2pm surface map.png|left|thumb|248x248px|August 28 surface map showing the hot and moist air mass in place with a cold front pushing in.]]
For late August standards, August 28 was a particularly warm and humid day.  Temperatures reached into the low 90s&nbsp;°F (32–34&nbsp;°C; about 11&nbsp;°F or 6&nbsp;°C warmer than the normal of 79&nbsp;°F&nbsp;– 26&nbsp;°C), but [[dew point]]s soared into the upper 70s&nbsp;°F (25–27&nbsp;°C).  The presence of such a high dew point did not necessarily predict a [[severe thunderstorm]] outbreak; the prior day, similar conditions existed in northern Illinois with the exception of a warmer mid level [[troposphere]].  A warmer atmosphere inhibits the rising of surface air through the atmosphere; a requirement for [[convective precipitation]] (precipitation resulting from humid surface air ascending to condense in a cooler [[atmosphere]] above) to occur.  This warmer air aloft can describe either (or both) weak [[lapse rate]]s, thus weak [[conditional symmetric instability|instability]] or a [[capping inversion]].

The atmosphere on August 28 was significantly more unstable as the approach of a [[low-pressure system]] from the northwest cooled the mid levels (and also caused dynamic lifting) as instability continued to build in the capped, muggy environment, although the wind fields (strong, but out of the west-northwest and unidirectional) were not suitable for significant tornadic development.  As a result of the very high low-level temperature and dew point, [[convective available potential energy]] (CAPE) values were in excess of 8,000&nbsp;J/kg; generally, values of 1,500&nbsp;J/kg are considered to be moderately unstable, whereas values of more than 4,000&nbsp;J/kg are considered "extreme".  The [[lifted index]] (LI), the dominant estimate of instability used at the time, was also extreme.  Generally, an LI value of −6&nbsp;°C or below readily supports severe thunderstorm development, but during the day the LI value ranged from −12&nbsp;°C to −14&nbsp;°C.  Such extreme instability can lead to explosive thunderstorm development, very strong [[updraft]]s, and modulation of the updraft to better enable [[tornadogenesis]].

Conditions were ripe for severe thunderstorm development, and with both low level and high level steering winds from the west-northwest, the [[Storm Prediction Center|National Severe Storms Forecast Center]] issued a [[Severe Thunderstorm Watch]] for northern Illinois valid 1:30&nbsp;p.m. through 8:00&nbsp;p.m. CDT that night.  The NSSFC predicted a [[derecho]]-type event for later that night as rapidly developing thunderstorms along a cold front in [[Wisconsin]] would be carried by the steering flow into the Chicago area.  One of these storms developed [[supercell]]ular characteristics south of [[Rockford, Illinois|Rockford]], steering 30 to 40 degrees to the right of prevailing steering winds.  By now, mid-level steering winds had begun to veer, causing a wind profile slightly more favorable for tornadic development.  This helped develop a high precipitation supercell.

The "HP" supercell produced multiple funnel sightings, hail damage, and damaging winds south of Rockford before heading southeast toward Will County and dropped a rain wrapped tornado.  This is why many in the path did not see the actual tornado but more of a wall of water and dark clouds coming toward them. As the storm continued south it produced a {{convert|16|mi|adj=on|sp=us}} swath of damage ranging from F1 to F5 intensity.  The [[National Weather Service]] in [[Rosemont, Illinois]], serving all of Central and Northern Illinois at the time, did not issue a Tornado Warning until 10 minutes after the tornado had hit Plainfield. Despite radar technology being less developed than now, the storm had a well defined [[hook echo]] on radar imagery, a signature often correlated with tornadic supercells.

==Event summary==
[[File:August 28, 1990 supercell in DeKalb, IL.webm|thumb|The supercell that would produce the Plainfield tornado, seen at 2:45{{nbsp}}p.m. from [[DeKalb, Illinois]]]]
[[File:Plainfield tornado radar loop.gif|thumb|252x252px|Loop of radar data from the Plainfield supercell.]]
The tornado formed from a [[supercell]] [[thunderstorm]], which initially formed in the vicinity of [[Janesville, Wisconsin|Janesville]] in south central [[Wisconsin]], shortly after 12&nbsp;p.m. CDT {{huh|date=August 2025}}. It produced a tornado near [[Pecatonica, Illinois]] in [[Winnebago County, Illinois|Winnebago County]], about {{convert|15|mi|abbr=on}} west of Rockford, that touched down at about 1:42&nbsp;p.m. That tornado did not last long; however, the storm continued to move southeast towards the [[Aurora, Illinois|Aurora]] area, and spawned four short-lived, predecessor tornadoes in southwestern [[Kane County, Illinois|Kane County]], between 2:45&nbsp;p.m. and 3:15&nbsp;p.m. Within that time period, the storm also struck the [[Aurora Municipal Airport]] in [[Sugar Grove, Illinois|Sugar Grove]] at about 3:05&nbsp;p.m., lasting until 3:10&nbsp;p.m., where propeller planes were flipped, and the control tower was evacuated, but no injuries were reported.<ref name="CBS"/>{{Sfn|NDSR|1991}}

Continuing to move to the southeast, starting at about 3:15&nbsp;p.m., the supercell spawned the principal tornado, touching down near [[Oswego, Illinois|Oswego]] in [[Kendall County, Illinois|Kendall County]], and rapidly strengthening into a F2 and F3 tornado as it approached [[Will County, Illinois|Will County]]. The tornado traveled southeast into [[Wheatland Township, Will County, Illinois|Wheatland Township, Will County]], near the Wheatland Plains subdivision, northwest of Plainfield.  
At 3:25&nbsp;p.m. in Wheatland Township,{{Sfn|NDSR|1991}} the tornado damaged nearly all of the homes in the Wheatland Plains subdivision where there were several injuries, including one child who had to be airlifted to [[Loyola University Hospital]] in Maywood and later died of injuries. Twelve homes were destroyed in Wheatland Plains.

Past Wheatland Plains, the tornado continued to strengthen as it tore across open farmland, and reached F5 intensity in this area. A narrow swath of very intense ground scouring was observed, as mature corn crop was completely stripped from the ground, leaving nothing but bare soil behind. Several inches of topsoil were removed as well. As the tornado crossed [[U.S. Route 30 in Illinois|US-30]], a 20-ton tractor-trailer was thrown more than half a mile from the road, killing the driver. Three other motorists were killed in this area as their vehicles were thrown from the road. Some cars were picked up and carried considerable distances through the air. It was determined that the tornado reached its peak strength in this area, and the F5 rating was based on the extreme ground scouring that occurred. Beyond this point, the ground scouring became less pronounced as the tornado weakened slightly as it approached Plainfield at high-end F4 intensity.<ref name="extremeplanet.me">{{cite web |title=The List of the Strongest Tornadoes Ever Recorded: Part IV |url=http://extremeplanet.me/2012/11/27/the-indefinitive-list-of-the-strongest-tornadoes-ever-recorded-part-iv/ |website=extremeplanet.me |access-date=28 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190407065947/http://extremeplanet.me/2012/11/27/the-indefinitive-list-of-the-strongest-tornadoes-ever-recorded-part-iv/ |archive-date=7 April 2019 |date=27 November 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Fujita|first=T. T.|title= The Tornado: Its Structure, Dynamics, Prediction, and Hazards|year=1993|volume=79|pages=1–17|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o9A7vGCxeFYC|editor1-first=Christopher R.|editor1-last=Church|publisher=University of Chicago|location=Chicago, Illinois|doi=10.1029/gm079p0001|bibcode = 1993GMS....79....1F |series=Geophysical Monograph Series|isbn=978-0-87590-038-4|chapter=Plainfield tornado of August 28, 1990}}</ref>

The tornado struck [[Plainfield, Illinois]], around 3:28&nbsp;p.m. Around 3:30&nbsp;p.m. the tornado directly struck the [[Plainfield Central High School|Plainfield High School]], killing a science teacher and two maintenance workers.<ref name="CBS"/> Students who had been out practicing for the fall football programs ran into the high school to take shelter a few minutes before the storm hit. After an alarm was pulled by a dean in the main office, the volleyball players preparing for a game in the gymnasium rushed to the nearest door and took shelter in the hallway. It has been reported that as soon as the last player was through the door, a coach quickly closed it, only for it to be immediately ripped back off by the storm. The gymnasium proceeded to fall apart and crash down, which filled the gap in the doorway. They took shelter in the same hallway as the football team, and once the tornado had passed, that was the only hallway left standing in the building.

The tornado then demolished the [[Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202|Plainfield School District]] Administration building, where the wife of a custodian was killed. The tornado crossed [[Illinois Route 59|Route 59]] (Division Street) and ripped into St. Mary Immaculate Church and school, claiming an additional 3 lives; the principal of the school, a music teacher, and the son of the cook at the rectory.  Fifty-five homes were destroyed in Plainfield itself, a few of which were swept away. A grocery store east of the high school was badly damaged. Gravestones in the nearby cemetery were toppled, and a metal dumpster was found wrapped around the top of a partially debarked tree. Damage in Plainfield was rated as high-end F4.<ref name="extremeplanet.me"/>

The storm then worked its way southeast towards the large city of [[Joliet, Illinois|Joliet]], damaging homes in the Crystal Lawns, Lily Cache and Warwick subdivisions and killing five more people: one in the Lily Cache subdivision of Plainfield, and two each in the Crystal Lawns and Warwick subdivisions; an additional three people would later succumb from injuries sustained during the storm. The tornado ripped through the Grand Prairie Elementary School ([[Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202|Plainfield School District]]), causing significant damage. Observers watched from the doors at the [[Louis Joliet Mall]], as the tornado passed just southwest of them. Sixty-nine homes were destroyed in Crystal Lawns, 75 homes were destroyed in Peerless Estates, 55 homes were destroyed in Lily Cache, and 50 homes were destroyed in Warwick. Most of the homes in Peerless Estates and Warwick were newly built.

The tornado then moved towards [[Crest Hill, Illinois|Crest Hill]].  At 3:38&nbsp;p.m. the storm ripped through the Crest Hill Lakes Apartment complex, where it caused F3 damage and claimed another eight lives, destroying one apartment building and half of another apartment building.<ref name="CBS"/> Neither have been rebuilt. The tornado also ripped through the Colony West subdivision, destroying 12 townhomes, none of which have been rebuilt either. A married couple died while in their car on Cedarwood Drive outside the apartment complex. The tornado then destroyed three apartment buildings on Elizabeth Court. Three more homes were destroyed in Bridalwreath, southeast of Elizabeth Court. Homes were damaged on Arden Place, and two high tension wire structures were destroyed at Douglas Street and Palladium Drive West.

Further southeast, the tornado continued to lose strength and lifted near Woodlawn Avenue and Campbell Street in Joliet. The parent thunderstorm continued until it crossed over the Indiana border, where it dissipated around 4:30&nbsp;p.m.

The Plainfield Tornado caused over $165 million worth of damage. As the storm tore through Plainfield, nine people were killed (one additional victim would die afterward, from [[carbon monoxide]] poisoning, while guarding his home after the storm). The remaining victims were from Joliet and Crest Hill. In all, a total of 29 people would die because of the tornado. A total of 353 people were also injured in storm. This was the deadliest tornado event in the region since the [[1967 Oak Lawn tornado outbreak#Oak Lawn–Evergreen Park–Chicago South Side, Illinois|1967 Oak Lawn tornado]].

== Aftermath ==

=== Tornado preparedness ===
The Plainfield Tornado challenged both meteorologists and citizens in terms of [[tornado preparedness]]. Substantial safety measures have been enacted in the years following the tornado; among the improvements are frequent and regular tornado drills performed in schools.

After the tornado, meteorologists studying tornadic patterns in the area found that a major tornado (F3 or higher) strikes [[Will County, Illinois|Will County]] about every 12 to 15 years. There have been no major tornadoes in the county since 1990. However, an F1 tornado swept through the historic Cathedral Area in the near west side of Joliet on [[Tornado outbreak of April 20, 2004|April 20, 2004]]. The most recent major tornado to strike the [[Chicago metropolitan area]] was an [[Tornadoes of 2021#June 20–21 (United States and Canada)|EF3 tornado]] that struck just north of the county line with [[DuPage County, Illinois|DuPage county]] on June 20, 2021.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.weather.gov/lot/2021jun2021 |publisher=[[National Weather Service Chicago, Illinois]] |title=June 20-21, 2021: Late Night Tornadoes and Wind Damage, Including an EF-3 Tornado From Naperville to Willow Springs |access-date=10 June 2024 }}</ref>

=== Deployment of NEXRAD ===
The development of [[NEXRAD]] (Next Generation Radar) has contributed greatly to the ability of meteorologists to recognize tornadic activity. Whereas previous generations of radar could show only reflectivity data and no direct information on air flows, although tornadic supercells and tornadic signatures such as the [[hook echo]] and bounded weak echo region (BWER) were identifiable, NEXRAD contained the ability to detect the wind speed and direction inside the storm. The ability to see rotation inside a storm on both the microscale (tornadic) and mesoscale (supercellular) measurements has allowed forecasters to issue severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings in more timely fashion and with a higher probability of detection.

=== Forecast criticism ===
In the months following the tornado, the National Weather Service was heavily criticized for providing no warning of the approaching tornado.<ref name="CBS">{{cite web
 |title       = 1990: Southwest Suburban Tornado Leaves 29 Dead
 |publisher   = [[CBS2 Chicago]]
 |url         = http://cbs2chicago.com/vault/tornado.Will.County.2.331531.html
 |access-date  = 2008-06-02|date= 26 August 2006
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20080417234526/http://cbs2chicago.com/vault/tornado.Will.County.2.331531.html
 |archive-date = 2008-04-17
 |url-status     = dead
}}</ref> The NOAA Disaster Survey Report was highly critical of the forecast process within the Chicago office as well as coordination with local [[Skywarn|spotter]] networks and the preparedness of these groups.{{Sfn|NDSR|1991}}<ref>{{cite book|isbn=978-0226249537|author=Gary Fine|title=Authors of the Storm|publisher=University of Chicago Press|date=15 June 2010}}</ref> Prior to 1990, the National Weather Service in Chicago was responsible for providing forecasts for the entire state of Illinois.

As the Chicago office was overwhelmed with its workload, no warnings were issued by the office until 2:32&nbsp;p.m.; nearly an hour after the first tornado was sighted southeast of [[Rockford, Illinois|Rockford]]. A second severe thunderstorm warning was issued almost an hour later at 3:23&nbsp;p.m., but this provided no indication that a tornado was on the ground and did not mention the area where the tornado had tracked. No tornado warning was issued until after the tornado lifted. Even though the Chicago office had an "add-on" Doppler improvement that was developed in 1974, that device had been disabled by a lightning strike before the August 28 storm.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Robbins |first1=William |title=Lack of Tornado Warning Prompts Assessment of Weather Service |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/31/us/lack-of-tornado-warning-prompts-assessment-of-weather-service.html |access-date=28 August 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=31 August 1990}}</ref>

As a result of the lack of a warning, many meteorologists today refer to the "Plainfield Syndrome" as the idea that it's better to issue too many warnings and be wrong, than to miss one critical warning, as was the case for the Plainfield Tornado.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Schwarz |first=Phil |url=https://abc7chicago.com/plainfield-tornado-anniversary-25th-crest-hill/961015/ |title=What if the Plainfield tornado struck today? |publisher= [[WLS-TV]] |date=28 August 2015 |access-date=28 August 2020}}</ref>

After the 1990 tornado, the National Weather Service reduced the Chicago office's workload by creating an office in [[Romeoville, Illinois]] in 1993,<ref>{{cite web |title=Romeoville's National Weather Service Office Protects Chicagoland |url=https://patch.com/illinois/romeoville/romeoville-s-national-weather-service-office-protects-chicagoland#:~:text=The%20Romeoville%20NWS%20office%20%28officially%20known%20as%20the,was%20covered%20by%20an%20office%20at%20O%27Hare%20Airport. |website=[[Patch (website)|Patch]] |access-date=28 August 2020 |date=11 August 2020}}</ref> as well as in [[Lincoln, Illinois]] in 1995,<ref>{{cite web |title=NWS History in Central Illinois |url=https://www.weather.gov/ilx/nwshistory |access-date=28 August 2020 |date=2016}}</ref> and allowing offices in the [[Quad Cities]], [[St. Louis, Missouri]], [[Indianapolis, Indiana]] and [[Paducah, Kentucky]] to issue forecasts for their respective areas.

===Memorial Site===
In the years following the disaster, a permanent Tornado Plainfield Victim Memorial located in [[Plainfield, Illinois]] was erected, thanking those who aided in its recovery. A dedication ceremony is held at this location where hundreds gather every year, including both survivors and victims' family members. The 30th anniversary memorial was held at this location on August 28, 2020, as church bells rang at exactly 3:28 PM.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-08-28 |title=South suburbs mark 30th anniversary of deadly Plainfield tornado |url=https://abc7chicago.com/plainfield-tornado-1990-planfield-deadly-anniversary/6393126/ |access-date=2023-01-09 |website=ABC7 Chicago |language=en}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[List of F5, EF5, and IF5 tornadoes]]
* [[Tornadoes in Chicago]]
* [[Jarrell tornado]], another poorly predicted tornado traveling an unusual direction
* [[1967 Belvidere tornado]], another unwarned tornado in Illinois; warning was not issued until thirteen minutes after striking Belvidere
* [[June 2022 Chicago supercell]], an exceptionally powerful non-tornadic supercell following a similar motion vector

== Notes ==
{{reflist|30em}}

==References==
* {{cite thesis |last=Baumgardt |first=Dan A. |date=1992 |title=A Three-Dimensional, Subjective Investigation of the Synoptic and Mesoscale Environment for the Plainfield/Crest Hill, Illinois Tornado, August 28, 1990 |type= Thesis/dissertation: M.S.|publisher=University of Wisconsin–Madison |oclc=31747487}}
* {{cite book |last=Beaird |first=Tina |date=2005 |title=Black Sky: Plainfield Tornado, August 23, 1990 |location=Illinois|oclc=61355928}}
* {{cite book |last1 = Brenner |first1 = Sue Anne |last2 = Noji |first2 = Eric K. |year = 1993 |chapter = Risk Factors for Death or Injury in Tornadoes: An Epidemiologic Approach |chapter-url = http://www.agu.org/books/gm/v079/GM079p0543/GM079p0543.pdf |editor1-last = Church |editor1-first = Christopher C. |editor2-last = Burgess |editor2-first = D. W. |editor3-last = Doswell III |editor3-first = C. A. |editor4-last = Davies-Jones |editor4-first = R.  |title = The Tornado: Its Structure, Dynamics, Prediction, and Hazards |url = http://www.agu.org/books/gm/v079/ |series = Geophysical Monograph |volume = 79 |location = Washington, DC |publisher = American Geophysical Union |pages = 543–4 |isbn = 978-0875900384 }}
* {{cite journal |last = Brenner |first = Sue Anne |author2=Eric K. Noji  |s2cid = 25861786 |title = Tornado Injuries Related to Housing in the Plainfield Tornado |journal = International Journal of Epidemiology |volume = 24 |issue = 1 |pages = 144–9 |date = 1995 |doi = 10.1093/ije/24.1.144 |pmid = 7797336 }}
* {{cite journal |last = Carlascio |first = Daniel R. |title = Air medical response to the 1990 Will County, Illinois, Tornado |journal = Journal of Air Medical Transport |volume = 10 |issue = 10 |pages = 7–16 |date = 1991 |doi = 10.1016/S1046-9095(05)80002-9 |pmid = 10115151 |display-authors=etal}}
* {{cite book |last = Fujita |first = Tetsuya Theodore |author-link = Ted Fujita |title = Plainfield tornado of 28 August 1990 
|chapter = Plainfield tornado of August 28, 1990 |journal = WRL Research Paper |volume = 234 |pages = 1–17 |publisher = University of Chicago |location = Chicago |date = 1991 
|doi = 10.1029/GM079p0001 |bibcode = 1993GMS....79....1F |series = Geophysical Monograph Series |isbn = 978-0-87590-038-4 }}
* {{cite journal |last = Hall |first = Soren G. |author2=W. A. Ashley  |title = Effects of Urban Sprawl on the Vulnerability to a Significant Tornado Impact in Northeastern Illinois |journal = Natural Hazards Review |volume = 9 |issue = 4 |pages = 209–19 |date = 2008 |doi = 10.1061/(ASCE)1527-6988(2008)9:4(209) |bibcode = 2008NHRev...9..209H |url = http://commons.lib.niu.edu/handle/10843/13398 |hdl = 10843/13398 |hdl-access = free }}
* {{cite book |last1 = Korotky |first1 = William |last2 = Przbylinski |first2 = Ron W. |last3 = Hart |first3 = John A. |year = 1993 |chapter = The Plainfield, Illinois, Tornado of August 28, 1990: The Evolution of Synoptic and Mesoscale Environments |chapter-url = http://www.agu.org/books/gm/v079/GM079p0611/GM079p0611.pdf |editor1-last = Church |editor1-first = Christopher C. |editor2-last = Burgess |editor2-first = D. W. |editor3-last = Doswell III |editor3-first = C. A. |editor4-last = Davies-Jones |editor4-first = R.  |title = The Tornado: Its Structure, Dynamics, Prediction, and Hazards |url = http://www.agu.org/books/gm/v079/ |series = Geophysical Monograph |volume = 79 |location = Washington, DC |publisher = American Geophysical Union |pages = 611–24 |isbn = 978-0875900384 }}
* {{cite book |title =The Plainfield/Crest Hill Tornado, Northern Illinois, August 28, 1990 |location=Silver Spring, Md |publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |series = Natural Disaster Survey Report |date = 1991|oclc=894813855|ref={{harvid|NDSR|1991}}}}
* {{cite journal |last = Seimon |first = Anton |title = Anomalous Cloud-to-Ground Lightning in an F5-Tornado-Producing Supercell Thunderstorm on 28 August 1990 |journal = Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. |volume = 74 |issue = 2 |pages = 189–203 |date = 1993 |doi = 10.1175/1520-0477(1993)074<0189:ACTGLI>2.0.CO;2 |bibcode = 1993BAMS...74..189S |doi-access = free }}

== External links ==
* {{cite web |title=Map of August 28, 1990 tornado |url=http://www.tornadohistoryproject.com/tornado/19900828.17.39/map |publisher=Tornado History Project |access-date=August 28, 2020 |archive-date=August 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200830165756/http://www.tornadohistoryproject.com/tornado/19900828.17.39/map |url-status=usurped }}
* {{YouTube|id=-XVT-ovzRo0|title=Dr. Ted Fujita's Presentation At The Third Tornado Symposium April 4, 1991}}
* {{cite news |last1=Skilling |first1=Tom |author-link1=Tom Skilling |title=Remembering the Plainfield, Joliet, Crest Hill tornado, 25 years later |url=https://wgntv.com/news/cover-story/tom-skilling-on-the-plainfield-crest-hill-joliet-tornado-25-years-later/ |agency=[[WGN-TV]] |date=26 August 2015}}
{{F5 and EF5 tornadoes}}{{Plainfield, Illinois}}
{{1990 tornado outbreaks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:1990 Plainfield Tornado}}
[[Category:1990 in Illinois|Plainfield Tornado]]
[[Category:1990 natural disasters in the United States|Plainfield Tornado]]
[[Category:August 1990 in the United States|Plainfield Tornado]]
[[Category:F5, EF5 and IF5 tornadoes]]
[[Category:Kendall County, Illinois]]
[[Category:Plainfield, Illinois]]
[[Category:Tornadoes in Illinois]]
[[Category:Tornadoes of 1990|Plainfield Tornado]]
[[Category:Will County, Illinois]]